The Union City Tornado

What would you say is the most important breakthrough in the tornado warning process?

You could go back to the nineteenth century and say the telegraph, which made advance warnings possible. It could be Fawbush and Miller’s excellent, albeit lucky, tornado forecast at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma in 1948.

It could be the discovery of the hook echo on conventional radar. It might be NOAA Weatheradio, which came to the forefront after the 1965 Palm Sunday outbreak.

It could be the proliferation of local television stations arming and equipping their meteorologists with the latest in radar and warning technology.

To me, the most important breakthrough in the tornado warning process has been the use of Doppler Radar. The technology has really fulfilled its promise or greatly increased warning lead times. Some would argue that there has been a higher false alarm ratio, but I think the trade off has certainly been worth it.

Thirty years ago, that promise was just coming to the forefront as a team of scientists from the National Severe Storms Laboratory prepared to attempt to intercept a tornado using their powerful experimental Doppler radar.

On May 24, 1973, conditions seemed to be right for the formation of tornadoes, and a team of scientists including Chuck Doswell, Joe Golden and Don Burgess prepared to try and capture a tornado on radar and in the field with an armada of instruments, video and still cameras. The scientists at NSSL had been studying the use of Doppler Radar in tornado prediction since the sixties.

The tiny farming community of Union City, OK will forever be known as the place that they found their quarry. As the F4 tornado tore right through the center of town that day, it was the most intently studied tornado until that time. Research of the radar data from the storm would lead to discovery of the TVS – or Tornado Vortex Signature.

The presence of a TVS on Doppler radar data is a very strong indication of tornadic potential in a severe thunderstorm. Researchers also discovered the telltale signature of a mesocyclone, or rotating thunderstorm, an important precursor to tornado formation.

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